THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 219, September 6, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
PEW POLL QUANTIFIES THE RADICAL MINORITY OF U.S. MUSLIMS
By Dr. David J. Rusin
ISLAMISTS IN THE U.S.A.: A SMALL BUT DISLOYAL, SUBVERSIVE, & VERY DANGEROUS MINORITY OPERATING WITHIN
AMERICA'S BORDERS -- RADICAL MUSLIMS UNCOMMON IN THE U.S.A., BUT NOT UNCOMMON ENOUGH -- MORE U.S.-BORN
MUSLIMS THAN MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS HOLDING RADICAL, OR EXTREMIST, VIEWS -- THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HOMEGROWN
ISLAMISM IN AMERICA -- THE NEED FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS TO INVESTIGATE THIS ISLAMIST INTERNAL THREAT
TO U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY
FULL STORY:
Four weeks after the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center released its study of Muslim Americans , the Pew Research Center followed
suit by publishing a survey of far greater value, due to its broader range of topics, more direct questioning, and extensive
demographic cross tabs. Though the media, like Pew, have emphasized the mainstream attitudes of most U.S. Muslims, the
data indicate that radical views are held by a small but important minority that cannot be ignored. These and other
interesting results are highlighted below:
Radical Muslims remain uncommon in the U.S.A. — but not uncommon enough. Muslims' opinions of al-Qa'ida are 5%
favorable (2% very, 3% somewhat) and 81% unfavorable (70% very, 11% somewhat); 14% did not answer. This is a step
forward, as only 68% recorded disapproval in 2007. Furthermore, 8% of U.S. Muslims — a larger percentage than in
Pakistan — say that suicide bombing or other violence against civilians is, at least sometimes, justified to defend Islam.
Perhaps most troubling, 21% of U.S. Muslims see a great deal or fair amount of support for extremism among their own.
Underlining the significance of homegrown Islamism, more U.S.-born Muslims than immigrants hold radical views.
Native-born African-American Muslims lead the way: 11% have a favorable opinion of al-Qa'ida, 16% say that attacking
civilians can be religiously justified, at least sometimes, and 40% see support for extremism among U.S. Muslims; each
value is double the one characterizing Muslim Americans as a whole.
Despite pseudo-academic studies smearing those who sound the alarm about radical Islam as "Islamophobes," Pew finds
that 60% of Muslims are very or somewhat concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism in the U.S.A. — almost as high
as the figure for the general public (67%). Are many Muslim Americans "Islamophobes" as well?
The Pew poll, like Gallup's, erodes the Islamist meme that life in America is miserable for Muslims. Pew finds that 56% of
Muslims are satisfied with the country's direction, compared to 23% of the general public. Muslims also are happier with
their lives, have a more positive financial outlook, and feel more confident that hard work leads to success.
Pew combines the percentage of Muslim respondents (about 0.5%, roughly the same as Gallup) with census data to
estimate a population of 1.8 million Muslim adults and 2.75 million total Muslims in the U.S.A. — barely a third of the
number often claimed.
It is reassuring that most U.S. Muslims hold mainstream views, but history shows that Islamists need not be a majority to
be dangerous. The moderate and largely silent masses do not offset a hundred thousand radicals, if not more, who
approve of al-Qa'ida and serve as potential recruits.
Congressman Peter King, who called Pew's results "disappointing" and reiterated the need for hearings, has the right
perspective: "Seventy percent of American Muslims are opposed to al-Qa'ida. We are at war with al-Qa'ida. One hundred
percent should be opposed to al-Qa'ida."
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Islamist Fifth Column -- America's Internal Enemies:
Disloyalty, Subversion, Sedition, & Treason
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Dr. David J. Rusin is the Director of Islamist Watch, the Middle East Forum's project to expose and combat stealth jihad, that is,
the lawful, but still subversive, political activities of Islamists operating in the U.S.A. and other Western states. Previously, Dr.
Rusin served as a research associate at Islamist Watch and as an editor for Pajamas Media. After Al-Qa'ida's terror
attack on the U.S.A. on September 11, 2001, Dr. Rusin's primary interest turned from Astrophysics to Foreign Policy, Geopolitics,
Islam, and the Islamist threat to Western Civilization. Rusin holds a Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The foregoing article by Dr. Rusin was originally published in Islamist Watch, September 6, 2011, and can be found on
the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat. (URL: http://www.islamist-watch.org/blog/2011/09/pew-poll-quantifies-the- radical-minority-of-us)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
September 6, 2011
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